Welcome to the first day of June, a month of weddings, Flag Day and the longest day of the year, sunshine wise, for most of us.

And it is not May, which is probably a good thing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.9% in May, snapping a five-month winning skein. The Dow lost ground last May, too, and has fallen in nine of the last 14 Mays.

So, good riddance to May!

And the market may have already started celebrating the end of May. Stocks are up the last four sessions, and the closing 20 minutes of Tuesday’s action saw heavy buying, perhaps even a bit of short covering. The last five-day win streak was back in late January.

The twin themes of the U.S. economy (Slow Patch? Slower Patch? Slow Patchlet?) and Greece’s debt woes figure to play a big role in today’s action.

On the economy front, a bunch of reports, including the May ISM Manufacturing survey and the ADP National Employment Report. The ISM is expected to come in at about 57, down from 60.4 in April. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, so 57 is still pretty solid. But a retreat from April might give the Slow Patchers a bit more ammo.

The ADP National Employment report will get close examination. Its oracular powers have come in for some question, and it deeply underestimated the number of jobs gained in April. ADP is expected to report that 175,000 private-sector jobs were added last month. Estimates for Friday’s jobs report currently stand at about 190,000 jobs added.

(A full analysis of the day’s economic reports and key economic speeches is down below.)

Over in Europe, the good burghers of Germany look like they will cut Athens some more slack on a rescue package. Also, the EU/IMF/ECB said it would allow Greece to trim some taxes, which might mollify some of masses. In addition, the Journal reported late yesterday that Greece is getting ready to sell nearly $50 billion in property to cut its debt down.

The nation is slated to run out of cash in mid-July, so another round of rescue loans from the EU and the IMF, along with some asset sales, should kick the ugliness of a debt default/restructuring/reprofiling down the track a bit more.

News of a fresh Greek rescue package helped undergird sentiment on Tuesday and any more (positive) details could give shares a boost on Wednesday. But as has been the case throughout the euro-zone crisis, it is a muddle-through moment, as opposed to a Big Fix that might put the fiscal problems for Greece (and Ireland and Portugal) to rest for good, let alone for an extended period.

The earnings calendar contains no needle movers, with Dollar General headlining a sparse group of reports.

Your Daily Morning MarketBeat Factoids: The top performing S&P 500 stocks in May were Dean Foods (+24%), Electronic Arts (+21%) and Macy’s (+21%). Energy was the worst sector (remember that sell-off in oil?), down 4.6%. Also, the dollar had a rare up month: it gained 2.9% vs. the euro, 1.5% vs. the pound and up 0.5% vs. the yen.

L’Etoile du Nord

-Dave Kansas

MARKET SNAP:

At 6:30 a.m. EDT, S&P 500 futures are down 1.1 points at 1342.8, Dow futures are off 13 points at 12545 and Nasdaq futures are down five points at 2366.8.

European bourses are a touch weaker. The FTSE 100 is down 0.1%, DAX is off 0.2% and CAC-40 is flat.

In Asia, stocks closed mixed, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.3% at 9719.6 and the Hang Seng slipping 0.2% to 23626.4.

Cheniere said it will sell 8.7 million shares of common stock in a public offering. The energy company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes. Shares slumped 9% in after-hours trading to $10.61.

A busy economic day, led by the May ISM Manufacturing Survey at 10 a.m.

Economists expect the headline index to come in at 57.1, down from 60.4 in April. Regional reports, including the downbeat Chicago PMI yesterday, hint at a weak report. Expectations have drifted lower, so there’s a possibility for an upside surprise.

Ahead of the ISM, ADP releases its National Employment Report at 8:15 a.m. Economists expect ADP to report that the economy added 175,000 private-sector jobs last month, which is just a tick down from the 179,000 level last month. Economists will chew on this number and decide whether or not to change their view of Friday’s Employment Report for May. Current Expectations are for 190,000 jobs added in May.

Throughout the day, automakers will release domestic sales data for May. Given the Slow Patch chatter, these will be watched more carefully than usual.

The day begins with the 7 a.m. release of the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Survey. It’s expected to show modest improvements.

Challenger provides its Mass Layoff news at 7:30 a.m.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index is out at 8:55 a.m. Retailers report their monthly same-store sales results on Thursday.

At 10 a.m., Construction Spending for April is expected to show a modest increase, coming down from a 1.4% gain in March.

Also at 10 a.m., Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies before a House committee on the international finance system.

Lunchtime brings a speech by Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto on Labor Markets and Monetary Policy in Columbus. Maybe a word about Jim Tressel, too.

Dinner speaking comes from San Francisco Fed President John Williams. At 10:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. in Cali.) Mr. Williams will speak on “Economics Instruction and the Brave, New World of Monetary Policy.” Aldous Huxley always delivers.

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